Upgrades coming for East Yosemite, Moffat

Two of the roughest stretches of street pavement in Manteca are targeted for upgrades.

The streets are:

•East Yosemite Avenue between Cottage Avenue and Commerce Drive.

•Moffat Boulevard between Main Street and Austin Road.

The City Council is being asked Tuesday to appropriate $255,000 from Local Transportation Funds (LTF) in order to secure $1,904,604 in federal dollars for the projects that will cost just over $2.1 million. The LTF is restricted use money for transportation and is not part of the general fund. The federal money is already appropriated for the Manteca project but can’t be released without the matching money.

The city’s general fund is facing an $11.3 million deficit starting July 1 with just half of that amount covered with strategies now being put in place by the City Council.

Of the two projects, Moffat Boulevard is the more elaborate. The city will need to bore into the street in various locations to determine the depth of the existing asphalt over old concrete. When Moffat was improved to paved status in the early part of the 20th century it was Highway 99. At that time concrete was used for road surfaces. The rehabilitation will eliminate the potential for future cracks as are now in much of Moffat between the Highway 120 overpass and Austin Road.

The city during the past two years has spent over $1 million improving the Moffat Boulevard corridor by putting in missing segments of sidewalk, gutter, curbs, and storm drains.Similar issues existed on North Main Street and parts of West Yosemite Avenue until rehabilitation projects were undertaken in the past 10 years.

The segment of East Yosemite being resurfaced was, up until 10 years ago, primarily two lanes. It was widened in segments as Spreckels Park, Raymus Plaza and other improvements were put in place.

The result has been numerous spots of rough pavement transitions plus uneven pavement near the gutter that has proven problematic for bicyclists.

Also, there is just one stretch of the project area where there is undeveloped land. That means minimal future cuts into the upgraded roadway for utility connections.